Rs 45 lakh stolen from car

Miscreants divert bank staffers attention; insiders role not ruled out

The cash belonged to Arjuna Sauharda Co-operative Society (ASCS) in Malleswaram, which also runs a bank. Two staff members of the bank were carrying the money from Jayanagar to Malleswaram when the incident occurred.

According to the police, ASCS has financial transactions with two branches of Indian Bank, one at Basavanagudi and another at Jayanagar third block. ASCS has different teams to collect money from these branches.

The Society has a car exclusively to carry the cash. The ASCS teams bring the money from the banks, whenever there is heavy cash transaction at its Malleswaram office.

ASCS needed Rs 45 lakh for the heavy transactions on Wednesday. Anand, a clerk aged around 30, and Krishnaiah, the driver aged around 30, left for Basavanagudi in a car around 12.30 pm.

They reached the bank near Shivasagar Hotel at Gandhi Bazaar around 1.30 pm and collected Rs 30 lakh.

They kept the cash in the bag and then drove towards Jayanagar third block and reached the bank around 1.40 pm. They collected more cash and started towards Malleswaram around 2 pm.

How incident took place?

The duo told the police that while Krishnaiah was in the driver’s seat, Anand was seated behind him towards the left and had kept the cash bag beside him. When they were on Library Road near South End Circle in Jayanagar third block, two unidentified persons on a two-wheeler drove past the car and pointed towards the right wheel, saying there was a puncture.

Krishnaiah stopped the car and both of them got down. Anand opened the boot, took out a wheel and handed it over to Krishnaiah, who replaced the punctured wheel. The duo then got into the car and were shocked to find the bag missing. The duo called up their manager and narrated the incident. They waited at the spot till the manager came to the spot and lodged a complaint with the police.

“There are several holes in the versions of the two staff members. There are several unanswered questions. The duo are making contradictory statements. Neither the glass panes of the rear door were broken nor the door was open at the time of the incident. They told the police they did not hear any sound when the bag was taken away.

They said they could not properly see the two men on the two-wheeler and claimed the two-wheeler did not have a number plate. They did not give a convincing reply why they chose Library Road to return. The police do not rule out the involvement of insiders at this stage,” said a senior officer investigating the case.

Violated security measures

The incident took place around 2.15 pm and it was around 3.30 pm when they informed the police. The incident spot is less than a kilometre away from the Jayanagar police station.

Another officer said the ASCS top brass violated security measures to be taken whenever heavy cash is transported.

There was no escort in the car. The police had directed all banks in the City to inform the locality station and take compulsory police security till the cash is delivered at the final destination.

The police just charge Rs 500 and provide an armed policeman who will guard the staff and the vehicle till it reaches the destination, the officer added.

The place where the incident took place is a busy place. They were transporting the money without taking even the minimum security measures. The police are confident of arresting those involved in the case and recovering the money in a couple of days, the officer added.